Making its Caribbean premiere at this year's Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, which runs September 19 – October 2, the 2010 feature documentary The First Rasta is directed by Rastafarian scholar Helene Lee.

First Rasta, the story of Leonard Percival Howell, considered by many as the founding father of Rastafarianism, is director Lee's feature film debut; she is also a journalist, author and translator.

Here's the full synopsis:

LONG BEFORE Bob Marley sang about the divinity of Haile Selassie and the sacredness of ganja, Leonard Percival Howell preached that heady gospel. This documentary tells the story of the man whom some claim as the founding father of Rastafarianism, from his days in Harlem as a Marcus Garvey disciple, to the time he spent leading the self-reliant Pinnacle community in Jamaica’s Maroon country. Music by the Abyssinians and others round out this revealing film.

Comments

Kelli
May 13, 2016 4:04 pm

Really wish films such as these would come to America more often. Very interesting. My hubby sings that song the rasta was singing at the end of the trailer EVERY morning. Would love to see this in its entirety.